T
he
telecommunications
undergoing
rapid
market
change.
is
Telecom
providers must be able to respond to
new developments, even in the data centre
environment. Due to the need for flexibility
and capacity, Swisscom opted for high energy
densities by implementing modularity within a
compact data centre environment for its data
centres in Zürich Herdern and Olten.
Swisscom supplies more than 150 services in
wired and wireless communications from two
fully redundant data centres. Both consumers
and business clients are dependent upon the
performance in the data centres for telecom
and
internet
services,
such
Mobilfunk,
Festnetz, Internet and Digital TV. From its data
centre in Zürich Herdern Swisscom provides its
clients services such as Swisscom TV, as well as
capacity to connect up to 38,400 fibre cables.
between warm and cold airflows provides
landline, mobile and VoIP telephony.
This means that up to 2,400 fibre cables can be
maximum energy-efficiency in the racks.
connected to each rack. Swisscom uses Minkels
Minkels VariCondition® HD actively manages the cooling for high-density equipment,
which provides Swisscom with significant cost savings.
“Swisscom attains highenergy densities and
modularity in its data centres
thanks to the solutions
supplied by Minkels.”
VariCondition® HD – modular racks with
Thanks to actively managing the cooling via
integrated high density cooling, monitoring
Minkels VariCondition® HD, Swisscom can
and cable management for energy densities
limit energy usage of high-density equipment
of up to 24 kW for housing its high-density
and realise significant cost savings. By actively
equipment.
managing climate and energy, Swisscom has
been able to double the capacity in its racks.
The cooling is managed by the Minkels
This means that the Swisscom data centre
VariCondition® HD racks. Cold air is brought in
infrastructure is operating at peak efficiency.
under the floor. The airflows are then routed
Swisscom relies on Minkels
high-density (cooling) racks
and monitoring services
MINKELS VARICONDITION® HD
through the racks using airflow optimisation
RACK SECURITY
High energy densities and a strong modular
accessories. The warm air produced by the
Not only system uptime, but also data security
concept are important for Swisscom so that
servers is then removed by exhaust fans in the
is important for Swisscom. For this reason, the
they can maintain the data centre infrastructure
roofing of the racks. The Minkels VariControl®
telecommunications company has opted to
for these uptime-sensitive services as dynamic
monitoring system, with temperature sensors
add additional security to the racks. Minkels
and flexible as possible. The solutions provided
installed in the right places in the rack, ensure
supplied electromechanical door handles with
by Minkels play an important role in achieving
a constant climate in the racks and proper
IP communication that can only be opened by
these goals. In Zürich Herdern the racks are
management of the cooling system. The
authorised individuals. Alerts can be sent via
stacked in eight groups. Each group has a
temperature difference of 12.5 degrees Celsius
SNMP or GSM if the rack doors are opened by
an unauthorised user.
Swisscom always selects its partners and
suppliers carefully. Expertise, on-time delivery
and the provision of solutions are important
requirements that Minkels must also fulfil. The
Swisscom, the largest telecommunications company in Switzerland, has its own data centres
professionals of Minkels AG, the Swiss branch
including Zurich Herdern and Olten. Together, they provide space for more than 1,000 racks that
requested solutions in close collaboration
support telephony (mobile and landline), digital TV and internet services. Swisscom attaches
centre project. The modular design of Minkels
great importance to modularity and energy-efficiency in its two data centres. The high-density
(cooling) racks, monitoring, and also security are supplied by Minkels.
24
of Minkels, ensured an on-time delivery of the
with other suppliers involved in the data
VariCondition® HD provides Swisscom with the
guarantee that the data centre environment
Swisscom supplies from two fully redundant data centres, including the Zurich Herdern data
will fulfil the organisation’s needs – even if
centre, more than 150 telecommunications and internet services (including Swisscom TV).
those needs change due to the dynamics in the
telecom market.
Minkels Magazine 25